


Christmas in Margaritaville

by McKay



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-11-19
Updated: 2011-11-19
Packaged: 2017-10-26 07:12:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,310
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/280236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/McKay/pseuds/McKay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It’s the first Christmas following the end of the war, and Remus and Severus are celebrating in their own unique way.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Christmas in Margaritaville

**Author's Note:**

> Written for HP Yuleballs 2010.
> 
>  **Warnings:** public sex, water sex, wanking, oral sex, DH canon ignored

**December 24, 1998**

“Just think,” Remus said conversationally as he slid off the sun-warmed rocks and into the pond, “if we were at Hogwarts right now, there would be snow on the ground. We’d have roast goose and wassail instead of crab legs and margaritas, and there would be a proper tree with tinsel and glass ornaments, not a palm tree draped in multi-colored electric lights.”

“Is that what you want?” Severus asked, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the roar of the waterfall. “Roast goose and tinsel and all that?”

“Roast goose and tinsel are overrated.” Remus rolled onto his back and swam backward toward the waterfall, giving Severus a good view of his wet, clingy swimsuit, and he beckoned for Severus to follow. “I like crab legs much better.”

“Margaritas are far superior to wassail.” Severus did follow, but at a more sedate pace, the line of his gaze making it obvious he was more interested in his view of Remus than in the lush, blooming, tropical foliage surrounding them, which was just how Remus wanted it.

Remus swam to the waterfall and stood, pleased to find the water was barely waist-deep, and he closed his eyes and tilted his head back, letting the water sluice through his hair and run down his body until he was drenched. He knew he was no male model, but since they’d been here, his body had changed. Regular meals and walks on the beach had made him fill out and firm up, and his skin was tanned by the tropical sun. No longer was he pasty-skinned and scrawny, ravaged by poverty, and he had no qualms about baring himself.

As he’d hoped, Severus had continued watching him, and as soon as Severus had swum close enough, looking turned to touching, and Remus felt Severus’ long fingers splayed on his chest. He lifted his head and opened his eyes, smiling.

“You really don’t miss it?” Severus asked, regarding him curiously. “I thought you might turn maudlin once the holidays rolled around.”

Remus paused before answering, giving the question serious consideration, but he realized he really didn’t feel any longing for snow, roast goose, and wassail, and he didn’t feel any longing to return to people and places that were familiar. He didn’t miss England or Hogwarts or anyone he’d left behind, and what was more, he didn’t feel guilty about it. He did think about certain people, primarily Harry and Neville, and he wondered how they were doing and if they were healing and happy, but he wasn’t curious enough to contact them.

He and Severus had only been here a few months, but they had carved out a niche for themselves. Remus worked as a private tutor to a local magical family, and Severus brewed potions, elixirs, and salves for the village apothecary. They were renting a flat and saving money to buy a house, and they had both developed an unexpected appreciation for alcoholic beverages with paper umbrellas. It was a far cry from the life Remus had envisioned for himself when he was a young man, but it was a good life - a peaceful life - and he was happy.

“What do I really have to miss?” he said at last, shrugging, and then he slid his arms around Severus’ waist, urging him closer. “Teddy is in good hands with Andromeda. If he was my son, I might feel differently, but you know I only married to Tonks to help keep her secret.”

Severus snorted and wrapped his arms around Remus in return. “It’s just as well no one knows there’s yet another Weasley in the world, albeit a by-blow.”

“The truth would only cause more hurt, and for Percy, she was a rebound, nothing more. The last I heard, he had reconciled with Penelope, and they were planning to get married.” Remus pressed closer and nipped at Severus’ bottom lip. “As far as anyone back there is concerned, Remus Lupin and Severus Snape are dead, and I’m happy to let them keep thinking that.”

“Back there?” Severus arched one eyebrow at him. “Not ‘home’?”

“Back there is no longer home, if it ever was.” Remus smiled wryly and shrugged again. “I’ve felt more at home here than I have anywhere else since my parents died. Home is where you’re meant to feel safe, accepted, and loved, right?”

Rolling his eyes, Severus gave the back of Remus’ head a swat. “Soppy idiot!”

“Guilty as charged, but that doesn’t make me any less right.” Remus gazed at him with warm affection and gave him a little squeeze. “If nothing else, I’m just glad you and I no longer have to hide our relationship and pretend we mean nothing to each other - or spend Christmas apart. That was always difficult.”

Of all the sacrifices he’d made over the course of two wars, the lengthy separations from Severus had been the worst. They had enjoyed a respite after the First War, but even then, Severus had known the Dark Lord would be back, thanks to the Dark Mark still on his arm, barely discernible to the eye but a constant evil blight beneath his skin. Thus they’d been forced to remain cautious; Severus would be called back to duty as soon as the Dark Lord reappeared, and he refused to put Remus in greater danger by being linked too closely to him.

They’d gone through a rough patch following Remus’ year at Hogwarts when the curse worked on Severus, driving his self-doubt and insecurity to the surface and making them explode, but even that hadn’t been as difficult as the past year, when Severus had gone deeper undercover and Remus had agreed to help Tonks. It had been a blow for her to realize she had fallen harder for Percy than he had for her, but in the end, she refused to let his rejection ruin her. She had also refused to give him the satisfaction of knowing he had a child. Given Remus had been chafing under his own restrictions - unable to do so much as send an owl for fear of blowing Severus’ cover - he had understood completely. In their mutual anger and resentment over their love lives, they had been well-matched.

She’d understood that their marriage would be over as soon as the war ended, because Remus didn’t intend to spend a minute longer without Severus than he had to, and they’d agreed to an amiable divorce, but it had still been difficult. Remus had longed to be out there doing _something_ so he could feel like he was helping Severus in some small way. He found it ironic that everyone had insisted that he should be a good husband and father-to-be and keep himself safe, and yet as far as everyone knew, he had died on the battlefield with his wife. He didn’t know if anyone had discovered their deception, and he didn’t care. The only thing that mattered to him was that he and Severus had survived and could be together without war, spying, and sham marriages in the way.

“You’ve always been too sentimental for your own good,” Severus replied, sniffing haughtily.

“Can I help it if hearing ‘Cauldron Full of Hot, Strong Love’ always made me think of you?” Remus asked, grinning mischievously at him.

“Wretch!” Severus growled as he grabbed Remus’ shoulders and shoved him underwater, backing away when Remus emerged, sputtering.

Laughing, Remus shook his head rather like Moony would have done, slinging water everywhere - especially at Severus. “This means war!” he cried, lunging at Severus and catching him around the waist to drag him underwater.

A battle with lots of splashing and flailing ensued, with the occasional garbled obscenity from Severus when his mouth wasn’t full of water, but the feel of Severus’ warm, slippery body in his arms made Remus lose interest in the struggle quickly, and he stopped trying to dunk Severus in favor of trying to kiss him instead. Catching on to the change in strategy quickly, Severus let himself be caught, and the kiss continued, slow and deep, as they floated lazily back toward the waterfall.

When he was close enough to get his feet under him again, Remus broke away from the kiss and stood, leaning in so he could lick away the spray from the waterfall beading on Severus’ skin, starting at his shoulder and moving leisurely toward his nipple. Shivering, Severus clutched his shoulders and encouraged him with soft moans. It wasn’t until Remus slipped his fingers beneath the waistband of Severus’ swimsuit and nudged it down that Severus drew back and grabbed his wrist.

“We really shouldn’t,” Severus said, glancing around as if he expected a gaggle of tourists to leap out from behind a palm tree and begin snapping photos. “What if someone comes along?”

“Then they’ll get a show to go with the scenery,” Remus said as he clamped his free hand on the back of Severus’ head and captured his mouth.

He pushed Severus’ swimsuit down and curled his fingers around Severus’ hardening cock, and between the kissing and the stroking, Severus soon grew pliant in Remus’ arms. His protests faded into needy groans, a sound Remus still couldn’t get enough of, even after months of shagging, of falling asleep and waking up beside Severus at long last. The endless separation they had endured and the roles they’d had to play, especially during the last two years of the war, had been unbearable at times, and even though he knew he couldn’t really make up for lost time, he had certainly _tried_ , and Severus hadn’t seemed to mind.

When he could feel Severus’ body growing taut, hovering on the edge of release, Remus drew back so he could watch Severus come, savoring the sight of Severus’ sharp features suffused with ecstasy and then softening in the aftermath, savoring the sound of his name on Severus’ lips, a cry rather than a whisper now that Severus seemed to have settled into his freedom at last.

Remus lifted his hand and licked his fingers clean, holding Severus’ gaze as he did so, and Severus watched avidly - and then he swooped down and kissed Remus, pushing his tongue past Remus’ lips to demand a taste, and Remus let him, giving Severus the satisfaction of tasting himself on Remus’ tongue. But that only seemed to make Severus hungry for more, because he began trailing open-mouthed kisses along Remus’ jaw and throat and down his torso, bypassing his nipples in favor of a lower destination. Slowly, Remus moved backward until he could heft himself out of the water and onto a large, flat rock, close enough for the spray of the waterfall to keep his body wet and cool as he sprawled in the sun.

For someone who had worried about being caught, Severus didn’t hesitate to follow Remus out of the water and into a far more exposed area, and he didn’t hesitate to ease Remus’ swimsuit down his hips and thighs, letting his cock bob free, and Remus felt his body already tightening in anticipation of Severus engulfing his cock in wet heat. But apparently, Severus was in the mood to tease first, because he drew his tongue along the underside and pushed back the foreskin so he could swipe his tongue around and around the head, wrenching increasingly needy groans from Remus’ throat.

Finally, Severus took mercy on him and swallowed his cock to the root, and Remus moaned and buried his fingers in Severus’ hair, cradling the back of Severus’ head in silent encouragement. Severus slid one hand up Remus’ thigh and cupped his balls, kneading gently as he worked Remus’ cock, coaxing him to the heights at a maddening pace; it took all of Remus’ will power not to grab Severus’ head and fuck his mouth to completion, but he knew Severus trusted him not to take and use as so many other men in Severus’ life had done before, even in this small way, and so he groaned and let his knees fall open wide as he gave himself over to Severus’ torment.

Tension mounted at a steady pace - strong, sweet, inexorable - until suddenly Severus pressed just behind Remus’ balls, and Remus cried out as his control shattered and ecstasy overwhelmed him, his orgasm swift and powerful, leaving him utterly spent. He stroked Severus’ hair tenderly as Severus hungrily licked him clean, and then he drew Severus up and into a kiss, wanting to taste himself as Severus had done.

Breaking apart was necessary so they could pull their swimsuits back up, and Severus nudged him in a silent hint to move a few rocks over, out of the spray and into the sun, but Remus reached for Severus’ hand once they were lying side-by-side on the rocks, stretched out lizard-like in the sun to dry off.

“Happy Christmas, Severus,” he said, lacing his fingers with Severus’. It was maudlin, and no doubt Severus would scorn him for being a sentimental fool, but he meant it in more ways than one. As odd as it was to have sand instead of snow, he couldn’t remember a happier Christmas in his life.

“Yes,” Severus replied, much to Remus’ pleased surprise, and he gave Remus’ fingers a little squeeze. “It is.”

Smiling, Remus closed his eyes and relaxed, secure in the knowledge that Severus was just as content as he was. Later, when they were dry and the sun was going down, they would return to their flat with the lighted palm tree and drink eggnog liberally spiked with island-made rum, and they would open their gifts. As far as Remus was concerned, however, he’d already received the best gifts of all - life, love, a second chance - and he intended to cherish them all for the rest of his sun-and-Severus-filled days.


End file.
